This invention relates to a gaming machine. More particularly, the invention relates to a gaming machine of the type commonly known as a slot machine, a fruit machine or a poker machine. The gaming machine, in accordance with the invention, has discrete gaming symbols.
Players who regularly play gaming machines quickly tire of the same games. Hence, it is important for gaming machine manufacturers regularly to update games played on the gaming machines both to retain customer loyalty and to attract new customers.
With increasing deregulation of the market, more and more venues are opening up which offer patrons the opportunity of playing gaming machines. Hence, it is important for operators of such venues to retain their customers and to attract new customers. This, to a large extent, is governed by the games offered on their gaming machines.
According to the invention, there is provided a gaming machine which includes:
a control means for controlling operation of a game played on the gaming machine: and
a display means on which a game played under the control of the control means is displayed, the game displayed on the display means comprising a plurality of polyhedral elements, each of which has a plurality of faces with a predetermined indicium being carried on at least one face of each element, the elements being rotatable, when the game is played, about at least one axis to bring certain faces into view, the rest positions of the faces and the indicia carried on visible faces of the polyhedral elements being amongst the determining conditions as to whether or not a winning result has been achieved in the game.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the display means is a video display unit. Thus, each polyhedral element may be a video simulation of such polyhedral element.
Each polyhedral element may be at least cubic in shape or, if desired, may have more than 6 sides.
For ease of explanation, the invention will be described with reference to cubic elements.
Each element may be rotatable about at least two axes so that each of the faces of the element can be brought into view.
Further, each element may be displayed in a three dimensional format so that at least three faces are visible. For example, a front face, a top face and a side face may be visible when each element ceases spinning about its axes. Then, depending of the configuration of the control means, prizes may be awarded for at least one of winning combinations of indicia on top faces of the elements and winning combinations of indicia on side faces of the elements, in addition to prizes being awarded for winning combinations of indicia on front faces of the elements.
The polyhedral elements may be arranged in a matrix and prizes may be awarded depending on active paylines in a similar manner to that of spinning reel gaming machines. The paylines may be arranged vertically. horizontally and in a zigzag manner through the elements.
Where each element represents a die and the indicia are dots representing the numbers xe2x80x9conexe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9csixxe2x80x9d on the faces of the die, prizes may be awarded on a payline for the sum of the numbers visible on corresponding faces of the elements, for example, only on the front face of the elements. Still further a prize may be awarded for the product of predetermined indicia, for example, the product of certain numbers or the product of an indicium multiplied by a multiplier.
As a refinement of the invention, a predetermined event may trigger a bonus condition in which at least one of the elements xe2x80x9copensxe2x80x9d to reveal a bonus prize contained in said element.